AGNOSCERE. An open house to global citizens

February 02, 2018

Post No. 26: Mangroves in our life and Restoration.

Mangroves are more important than people usually thinks. They protect shorelines from storms and hurricane winds, waves and floods. They help prevent erosion by stabilizing sediments with their tangled root system, as kidneys for the coastal waters, lodge a great amount of aquatic, amphibious and terrestrial organisms, they generate life and hare the habitat of the juvenile stage of hundred of species of fish, mollusks and crustaceans and they are the temporary habitat for many species of northern and southern migratory birds and a renewable resource of fuel.

Mangroves also play a major role in the protection of coasts against wind and wave erosion. Once reason is that they possess a high productivity, lodge great amount of aquatic, amphibious and terrestrial organisms; they are generative engines of life, they are habitat of the juvenile stages of hundreds of species of fish, mollusks and crustaceans. They are temporary habitat for many species of northern and southern migratory birds. . Also they are a palliative against possible climate changes not only because they are CO@ fixers, and immobilize large amounts of sediments rich in organic matter. They trap contaminants. (1)

Mangrove is a shrub or small free that grows in coastal saline or brackish water (water that has more salinity than fresh water, but not a much as seawater. It may result from mixing of seawater with fresh water, as in estuaries [partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea], or it may occur in brackish fossil aquifers). The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves occur worldwide in the tropics and subtropics. Mangroves are salt-tolerant trees, also called halophytes, and are adapted to life in harsh coastal conditions. They contain a complex salt filtration system and complex root system to cope with salt water immersion and wave actions.

The word is used in at least three senses:

Most broadly to refer to the habitat and entire plant assemblage or mangal, for which the terms mangrove forest biome, and mangrove swamp are also used

To refer to all trees and large shrubs in the mangrove swamp

Narrowly to refer to the mangrove family of plants, the Rhizophoraceae (family of tropical or subtropical flowering plants. Among the better-known members are mangrove trees of the genus Rhizophora [genus of tropical mangrove trees, sometimes collectively called true mangroves. The most notable species is the red mangrove {Rhizophora mangle is distributed in estuarine ecosystems throughout the tropics}.

The mangrove biome, or mangal, is a distinct Sline woodland or scrubland habitat characterized by deposional coastal environments, where fine sediments (often with high organic content) collect in areas protected from high-energy wave action. The saline conditions tolerated by various mangrove species range from brackish water, through pure seawater (3 to 4%), to water concentrated by evaporation to over twice the salinity of ocean seawater (up to 9%).

The term “mangrove” comes to English from Spanish (perhaps by way of Portuguese) and is likely to originate from Guarani.

Mangrove swamps are found in tropical and subtropical tidal areas. Areas where mangal occurs include estuaries and marine shorelines. (2)

References:

(1) Author

(2) Wikipedia.

The Importance of Mangroves- Educational Video. Time: 3:32:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vO2XM2HkzdA

Mangroves – Guardians of the Coast. Time: 28:31:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SY7X9zdZ-U

Mangroves: The Roots of the Sea (AMNH, Science Bulletins). Time: 11:54:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0OG532oLsQ

What is Mangrove Restoration? What does Mangrove Restoration mean? Time: 8:04: